The community at large has important tasks assigned to it. The practical side:

10. Members of the community should console the mourners with words of faith and support and with acts of kindness, for example, assisting them with some of the routine tasks of daily living. Such assistance may allow members of the family to devote time to planning the funeral rites with the priest and other ministers and may also give the family time for prayer and mutual comfort.

Ministry always has a context of faith. The clear context here is that the community as a whole offers both friendly comfort and assists with tasks so that mourners can attend to either practical or spiritual details. In this context, baking meals, running errands, performing tasks large or small are all part of the overall ministry of the community. And, of course, offering those heartfelt “words of faith,” that’s ministry too.

Comments on this?

The “principal involvement” for the community will be described in the next post. Any comments on that?

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About catholicsensibility

Todd lives in the Pacific Northwest, serving a Catholic parish as a lay minister.